


The Truth Behind the Story

by auraya



Category: Bones (TV), Criminal Minds, NCIS, Numb3rs
Genre: Case Fic, Forensics, Gen, Serial Killers, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 17:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9618650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auraya/pseuds/auraya
Summary: A serial killer is loose in Los Angeles and has remained uncaught for 15 years due to lack of forensic evidence. Casefic.Originally posted on FFN on 1/1/09 as my first story.





	1. Prologue: Past History

_15 years earlier…_

Rina peered over the top of the newspaper to regard her 2 year old niece, Alynne, playing in their backyard. She turned back to the page as it appeared her niece was in no danger, she was calmly playing with her red ball. It seemed there was still no good news in the newspaper. The vigilante serial killer the police had been chasing for the past five weeks was still at large. The police had already discovered 16 bodies in the river. They had even called in the BAU, Behavioral Analysis Unit, from the FBI, the best serial killer catchers. The bodies were found floating in the river with no connection except for the fact that they were all basically guilty of crimes, only for an unknown reason their juries had acquitted them. Rina quickly read the page, no new leads but at least the week had gone by without anymore bodies being discovered.

Rina's sister was resting in the upstairs bedroom. She sighed heavily; she had no other choice but to leave her daughter in the care of her sister. Work called her away and she wanted her daughter to live a good life with strong family support. She examined the letter she had written to Alynne along with the diary to be given to her on her sixteenth birthday. She had already told Rina that she was leaving and how she wanted her daughter to be raised. Rina had agreed to make sure that Alynne knew how to protect herself in this dangerous world, and that she would be okay without her mother.

Rina's husband, a local police detective, shook his head. Around him stood the BAU, the Los Angles FBI, and a couple of NIS officers loudly arguing. The Naval Investigative Service was called in after some the bodies were identified as military officers. It was a jurisdiction nightmare, all the agencies wanted in, but so far the FBI had gained control of the investigation. They had no leads and the press was all over the story. He tiredly flipped through the case file one more time. All the victims had been stabbed, that was well known, but the fact that the FBI had no idea what the murder weapon was was something they did not publicize. The crime labs had tried everything to no avail. Frustrated, he slammed the folder shut. What really upset everyone was that there was no physical evidence or eyewitnesses. The water had washed everything away. At least no more bodies were showing up, a good sign to be sure; he seemed to have stopped killing. On the other hand, without anymore bodies how would they ever find the killer?


	2. Case Reopened

_15 years later…_

Alynne swiftly ran past a couple lagging joggers on the nature path. She loved running on this path in the woods, she felt calm, at peace. Her golden retriever, Freya, ran next to her. Alynne stopped off to the side, gulping down a couple sips of water. Her black braid twitched in the wind, she often kept her hair braided, due to its waist length. She cupped her hand and let Freya have some water. After all her poor dog had to run fast to keep up with Alynne; her aunt, Rina, had made her stay in great shape, jogging, lifting weights and learning all possible martial arts offered at the local community center. Since her uncle, John, was a police detective, he repeatedly told her that in this big town she needed to know how to protect herself. After their house was broken into three years ago, and she was attacked and her aunt Rina was killed, John had taught her how to shoot. Now as an uncle daughter activity, they went to the shooting range. He wanted her to be prepared for anything.

Freya barked and pulled hard, trying to head further into the woods. Alynne turned and gazed sharply into the woods with her piercing green eyed stare.

"What is it girl? Do you want to show me something?" Alynne asked her dog.

She decided to follow her off the path. Freya was smart and Alynne knew to trust Freya's instincts. It was very muddy; the last week it had rained nonstop. Alynne's sneakers were quickly covered with mud. Freya stopped moving, sniffed the ground, whined, and started digging with her front paws. Alynne bent close the ground to see what she had uncovered. She brushed away some of the leftover mud with her hand, and gasped, a dirty brown, gray bone lay in front of her. She knew from her classes at school that this was definitely a human bone, an ulna to be exact. She whipped out her cell and called the police.


	3. Rallying the Troops

"Bones! Bones! Has anyone seen Bones?" Booth called out loudly and impatiently as he swiped his id climbing up to the forensic platform at the Jeffersonian.

Clark, the intern at the moment, turned to regard Booth and then looked away, focusing back on the bones he was identifying. He did not want to risk getting involved in something that might prove to be non work related.

Hodgins was a lot more willing to answer, "She went to the ladies room. Why are you so anxious to talk to her anyway?"

"Oh, well, we finally have a new case, in Los Angles actually." Booth shifted his weight from foot to foot. He had spent the last couple weeks filling out paper work and was glad that he had a chance to see Bones again outside of their therapy sessions. He couldn't really talk to her there anyway with Sweets analyzing everything he said to her.

"I heard you shouting my name, it was rather uncalled for, you could have waited patiently for me." Brennan said appearing behind Booth.

"We have a case!" Booth smiled at her, handing her the file in his hands.

She glanced at the file, skimming its contents, "It seems Los Angeles has another serial killer, so far it says they have uncovered 20 bodies. Statistically this is very rare occurrence, considering the fact that they last suffered from a serial killer 15 years ago. It must be the same one. Are there any pictures of the old wounds and the new wounds?"

"Yeah, here." Booth flipped through the file and pointed out the pictures to Bones. "The police there thought it might be the same guy too."

"It does appear to be the same type of wound, Dr. Brennan, if one examines the markings on the ribs carefully." Clark added.

"Very good, Dr. Edison, your analysis is in agreement with mine." stated Brennan.

Clark and Hodgins had moved closer as Dr. Brennan read the file, she looked up, "It looks like you and I are going to Los Angles, Booth. Are you ready to leave immediately, have you made all the arrangements with the FBI? Make sure you let them know we are dealing with the same serial killer."

"Our flight leaves in four hours, go pack your bags Bones." Booth instructed her as he turned, pulling out his cell to let his boss know that the vigilante serial killer had struck again.

Hodgins called out, "Hey what about us? What are Angela, Clark, Cam, and I supposed to do?

"Stay here, we will send everything to you." Brennan called over her retreating shoulder.

* * *

"Ouch!" Tony yelped and looked up from the computer where he had been busily killing aliens on a newly discovered internet game.

He glared at Ziva who lifted her head from the reports she was working on and said innocently, "What, Tony, did I do something to bother you?"

"This is the fifth paper ball you've thrown at me in the last couple minutes and you're just going to sit there and deny it?!"

Ziva just continued to look innocent with a slightly puzzled face, looking appalled that Tony even suggested that she would ever do such thing.

"Probie, back me up here, you saw her right?" After seeing McGee lift his head up and then quickly drop it back down, Tony assumed that he was on his own. "Fine.", he muttered, "I'll get revenge my way."

He began to think of plans when, smack, Gibbs headslapped him, "Stop playing around DiNozzo, we have a case. Fifteen years ago Los Angeles had a serial killer, he was never caught, and more bodies were just discovered. McGee!"

"On it Boss." McGee's fingers flew over the board bringing up the old case file to the screen. "It seems there were sixteen bodies that washed up from the river, four of them in the military. So of course NCIS was part of the joint investigation those many years ago."

"Grab your gear; we have a flight to catch." The team grabbed their bags and hurried after Gibbs into the elevator. He pressed the button for the basement floor.

"Where are we going, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"Well, obviously we can't leave Abby and Ducky behind if we are going all the way to Los Angles, Ziva."

* * *

Agent Hotchner sighed, as he sat in his office. His team had just received a special request to continue a cold case in Los Angeles, a case that the BAU had not been able to solve last time, even with the help of other agencies. Maybe his team would have better luck. He walked over to Agent Jennifer Jareau's office and knocked.

"Come in." her voice called out. Hotchner entered regarding the healthy, smiling JJ. His trained profiler eye noticed all the new pictures of her baby and he determined that her newborn baby was a great source of happiness in an otherwise depressing work place.

"I need you to assemble the team to meet at the jet, we have a cold case from fifteen years ago, the vigilante serial killer from Los Angeles, new bodies were just discovered."

"Oh, I'll get them; do you want me to introduce the old case files?" JJ inquired.

"Yes, we don't have any info on the new case, except where the bodies were found. I'll meet everyone at the jet."

JJ gathered the team, handing out case files to Reid, Emily, Garcia, Morgan and Rossi and told them the jet was waiting for them. Before they knew it they were up in the air on their way to Los Angeles.

"The previous BAU profile lacks a lot of information." Emily commented.

"The most likely reason is that fifteen years ago profiling was not a widely used method. The research was greatly limited, thus also limiting the generalized conclusions we use now." Reid informed the team as he read the file, flipping a page every few seconds, reading at his normal pace, which was way faster than anyone else's.

"So the FBI has jurisdiction but all the others want to help with the case?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, but remember, they all worked together last time and we can do it again. What matters is that we catch this killer before any more people are harmed." Rossi said.

The plane went silent quickly as the team pondered the ramifications of letting the killer continue his rampage.

Hotchner stated, "Just know that we don't have all the information yet so we can't even begin to create a profile, we have to wait till we land and meet with the other agencies."

* * *

"Hey Megan, did you manage to contact everyone involved in the case last time?" Special Agent Don Eppes asked his partner.

"Yes, don't worry; they will all be here by tomorrow." This was the fifth time Don had asked and she knew that he was just anxious to catch this murderer; he hated the fact that he had already remained uncaught for fifteen years.

"Yeah, Don, we'll get this guy this time, after all now we also have Charlie." Colby Granger said.

Charlie was Don's brother and a genius mathematician, he had helped various government agencies solve cases before. Granger's partner David Sinclair nodded his head in agreement. The air was tense in the bull pen, everyone wanted to catch this serial killer and put him away for once and for all.


	4. Puzzle Piece

Alynne sat in a chair outside the principal's office. It was her senior year but she couldn't stay out of trouble. Her uncle was currently talking to her principal, trying to get Alynne out of getting suspended. The principal's door opened and her uncle, John, came out, giving her the same look she always received when she got in trouble at school. He escorted her out of the building before turning to face her dead on. It didn't look like she would be getting out of this easily; he had his cop face on, the one he used to scare criminals into talking.

"Look, I can explain." Alynne hastily said before he could lecture her. John gave her a look that said 'I'm listening' and she continued, "Some kids started making fun of mom and how she, well, you know, left me. I tried to keep my temper under control and stop getting so angry, but it just exploded out of me after he shoved me," she blabbered, "and…then…I defended myself," her uncle shot her another look, "okay, okay, I used my talent for martial arts to kick his butt." she admitted sheepishly.

"And?" he asked.

"And..." she sighed, "that was wrong, martial arts are only for defending yourself when you're in danger. Sorry."

"I want you to apologize to him after your three day suspension is over. Also I think you better find some way to control your anger, meditation or something; otherwise you're going to have to take anger management control classes."

"No," she gasped, "Uncle John, if it got out that I was taking anger control classes, I would be the lamest person at school. I promise I'll do meditation. I'll stop getting into fights."

"You'd better," he stated as they headed toward his car.

* * *

In a huge police conference room, people from NCIS and the FBI were gathering to discuss the facts of the case.

"Booth, I still do not understand why my presence is necessary here. There are no bones present so my expertise is not needed." Brennan said, standing in a corner of the room with her arms folded. She felt that standing in the conference room and talking was a waste of her valuable time, it could be spent working on other cases.

"Just be patient Bones. We have to work with other people on this; it's a huge case." Booth replied.

"Excuse me, everyone," Don said loudly, trying to get everyone's attention, "I just wanted to get started by introducing myself and my team. We will be leading this investigation. I'm Special Agent Don Eppes with the Los Angeles FBI. This is my team: Special Agents Reeves, Granger, and Sinclair," Don said, gesturing with his hand to the people standing next to him, "and this over here is my brother, Dr. Charles Eppes. He's our math consultant." He paused, looking at the people around him, "So, let's go around and introduce the rest of yourselves."

Hotchner stepped in front of his team and began to speak, "We're from the BAU, I'm SSA Hotchner, and these people beside me are SSAs Prentiss, Rossi, Morgan, Dr. Reid, Jareau and our tech analyst Garcia."

"I'm Special Agent Booth and this is my partner, Dr. Brennan, a forensic anthropologist." Booth announced with Bones standing impatiently at his side.

A gray haired man spoke next, "I'm Special Agent Gibbs from NCIS, and this is my team: Special Agents DiNozzo and McGee, Officer David, Dr. Mallard, our medical examiner, and Abby Sciuto, forensic specialist."

"Now that we have introductions out of the way, let's get to work, I want to catch this guy. BAU team, do you need to see the crime scene to create your profile or will pictures be enough?" Don asked. He wanted to delegate jobs to everyone with speed so that they could get on with finding the killer.

"Pictures will be enough, though we will also need all the info you can give us on the victims and the way they were murdered." Rossi stated.

"Agent Reeves told me as much, the files are on the table over there next to the cork board. NCIS, Agent Booth, and Dr. Brennan will go to the crime scene. My team will stay here reviewing the old case files to make sure that we don't miss some vital clue. Also could Ms. Sciuto and Ms. Garcia please follow Officer Weston, he will take you to a separate room where you can set up your stuff," Don added noticing Garcia clutching a laptop in her arms like it was her most prized possession. "It has some lab equipment and computers. Any questions? No, then let's get working."

The NCIS team, Dr. Brennan, and Agent Booth left to go to the crime scene, while Megan walked over to the table where the BAU team congregated.

"Hey Megan, it's great to see you again, how's life in the regular FBI treating you?" JJ asked her with a big smile on her face. Megan had worked with the BAU back before Elle had joined the team.

"I love it with the FBI." she responded earnestly. She had fine tuned her profiling skills working with Reid, Hotch, JJ, and Morgan. Don came over to join them and he was briefly informed of Megan's relationship with the team. Morgan studied their interaction carefully, the way they laughed, talked around each other. He could immediately tell that they had an excellent partnership together, that they had been through a lot.

"I wanted to ask, how are we planning to handle the media on this case?" JJ inquired as the media liaison.

"Just prepare a statement listing the basics, and that the case is currently under investigation." Rossi told her as JJ nodded and left to do just that. The rest of the team turned to face the files on the table.

"Hey, Hotch, Don, would you mind if I worked on the profile too, since that's sort of a main part of what I help you with anyway." Megan asked. Both Don and Hotchner consented.

In another corner of the room, David and Colby were manning the tip lines, they had set up earlier. Charlie stood in front of a blank board, his face deep in thought. Suddenly he moved toward his brother Don, who was still standing by the BAU team.

"Don," he said urgently, "if you get the information on the victims, I can gather some variables and set up an algorithm to see if there are any other commonalities between the victims; I won't bore you with the details."

Reid stood up and quickly added before Don could respond, "Could I help you with that?" looking to Hotch for agreement. With Hotchner's slight head nod, he continued, "I have a PhD in mathematics so I'm not under qualified and it's been a long time since I had a chance to work on such a project." Reid was actually rather informed on Dr. Eppes worked and had read all of his papers and books.

Charlie agreed, "Sure, I would love your help, especially since both of my friends, Larry and Amita, are out of town right now."

"Go ahead Chuck, do your math magic." Don replied, affectionately tousling Charlie's head.

Charlie's hand came up and slapped Don's away, "Don't call me Chuck!" he glared. Both Reid and he walked away to the blackboard, discussing their degrees and interests.

"Two geniuses, having a conference in their own world." Morgan smirked.

Don left to go help David and Colby, Hotchner started giving out orders, "Prentiss, Megan, start the geographical profile. Rossi and I will read through the files and do victimology."


	5. Cold Ground

Booth's rental SUV pulled into the state park's parking lot right behind the SUV carrying the NCIS team. Everyone piled out of their cars and the sound of slamming doors resounded through the air. Duck had opted to wait back at the station. He knew a lot about world renowned anthropologist, Dr. Brennan, and figured she could do a better job at the scene, after all her specialty was in bones.

"Wow, this is a big forest," McGee commented as they stood in the gravel parking lot grabbing their kits from the back of the car.

"What's the matter, McFraidy," Tony smirked, laughing, "are the big, bad forest monsters waiting to get you?"

"That's not funny Tony, you know I have an issue with poison ivy." McGee shivered, remembering what had happen last time.

"Don't worry McGee, we follow that path there." Gibbs said, pointing at the trail head. He also recalled what happened last time and didn't want to put McGee through the itching again. Gibbs portrayed a gruff exterior, but in the inside he truly cared for his team.

They started walking along the trail, Booth and Bones following shortly behind. They still hadn't moved out of their comfort zones, preferring to stay with people they knew.

Booth looked over at Bones, who actually had a very introspective look on her face and decided to break the rare silence between them.

"Hey Bones," he said receiving no response. "Bones!" he shouted louder, "Are you here with me?"

"Oh, sorry Booth, I was just thinking about all the graves we are about to view. Twenty skeletons lying there."

Booth turned worried to his partner, "I know it'll be tough, I mean all those poor victims."

"Actually, I was wondering more about your reaction, I have seen plenty of mass graves during my trips to South America."

Booth shrugged and responded, "Well, I was an Army Ranger, I have seen my share of bad things too." He quickly changed the subject and said, "So what do you think of Cam's new boyfriend?"

Cam's boyfriend had showed up at work the other day to take her out to dinner and immediately the rumor mill starting spinning.

"He has excellent body structure, very well defined muscles." she stated matter-of-factly.

Booth laughed, a bit jealous, "Can't you just say he's hot?"  
They continued walking down the path bantering and debating the pros and cons of colloquial speech. Ziva, leading in front, had a map out in her hands, she studied it briefly, stuck it back in her pack and turned and walked off the path. McGee noticed, sighed and hoped that there was no poison ivy.

"Zee-vah, wait up! You don't have to speed walk like you're in a marathon." Tony called.

"What Tony? My normal pace is too fast for your slow moving legs, yes?" she shot back, however acknowledging his point she slowed down a bit. She also had noticed that McGee had started panting a little, out of breath.

As Tony walked next to her, at a semi-normal pace, he noticed that she had no map out.

"Do you know where we are going? You're not even following any directions," he asked nervously, looking at the woods around them.

"Relax. I studied the map, now it is here," she tapped her head, "and if we do get off track, I always carry a compact."

"Compass."

"What?"

"The word is compass; a compact is something that contains make-up."

"Same difference," she said irritated "anyway here we are."

A yellow crime scene tape wound around the trees in front of them and a uni accompanied it.

"You must be the FBI and NCIS. The bodies are all numbered." the uni said, lifting the yellow crime scene tape so they could pass through. Everyone ducked underneath and surveyed the scene in front of them. There were twenty labeled markers next to freshly dug up graves.

Brennan's face took on a frustrated look as she viewed the graves, "Booth, I can't work with this, the bones have been disturbed," she gestured at the ground with her hands; "whoever uncovered the bodies dug too far and damaged the skeletons with their tools. Also how can I–"

"Actually Bones," Booth interrupted her knowing that Bones would just continue to complain otherwise, she hated compromised evidence, "they had a professional team dig, using brushes and everything. I told them you wouldn't work with bones that might be messed up."

"Bones?" asked Tony who was standing next to Booth.

"Just my name for her, because she works with bones and all." Booth told him, not realizing that he sounded a bit possessive.

"Ziva–" Gibbs started to give out orders.

"Crime scene photos."

"McGee–"

"Sketches, on it Boss."

"Tony–"

"Notes, and check around the area for any other physical evidence."

"Did you see that Booth?" Brennan asked off to the side, "Agent Gibbs is clearly the dominant alpha male in the team; he has them all well trained. It will create some friction between you two, considering you are also a dominant alpha male."

"Will you just be quiet and do your job," Booth whispered back angrily, "I can get along with anybody."

Gibbs went off to talk to the uni; he wanted to know the address of the witness who discovered the skeletons. They still needed to question her. Brennan pulled on pair of gloves and climbed into the first grave.

"No obvious sign of trauma except for the markings on the third rib, the entire skeleton seems to be intact." she told Booth who was standing nearby with his notepad in hand. "Pelvic shape indicates that this victim was female, age 35-40, Caucasian, and she broke her wrist when she was young, age 8-12."

"Wow, you can get all that by just looking at bones, that's amazing!" McGee exclaimed as he overheard Brennan talking.

"Not really," she responded, "it's all based off simple indicators."

Ziva walked over closer, the skeleton Brennan was examining was the only one she hadn't gotten pictures of yet. She watched interested as Brennan leaned over and sniffed the body, and then some of the surrounding dirt.

"Yuck," Tony commented his face wrinkling up in disgust, as he appeared next Ziva, done with his duties, "that is absolutely gross, how can you do that?"

"Relax Tony, she is just trying to tell how long she has been here."

"Officer David is correct, I am trying to establish preliminary time of death, but due to the lack of smell, it is rather impossible to tell. Would you like to try?" Brennan offered a gloved hand of dirt from next to the skeleton to Ziva.

"Sure." Ziva crouched and smelled the proffered hand.

"How can you do that?" Tony asked standing next to McGee, both watching incredulously.

"You are right Dr. Brennan, no smell at all." she said, then turning to Tony, "I have had to do this before, sometimes it is life or death to know how long a body has been dead." Her face clouded over as she recalled memories from Israel, seeing bodies in the streets.

Tony had no response, he couldn't sympathize; he had never seen the horrible things she had.

Brennan oblivious to the awkward silence continued talking, "We will know more once I send all the bodies and surrounding ground samples to the Jeffersonian."

She stood up as Booth agreed, "Ship everything back, as usual."

All of a sudden Gibbs appeared beside Booth, "We're taking the bodies. Our ME is here in Los Angeles waiting and the only reason he didn't come to the scene was because he insisted that, 'I will leave the crime scene to her very capable hands.' Apparently he has heard of your bones lady there."

Booth went to argue back, he knew Bones had to have her way with the skeletons, but Bones interrupted before they could get into a full on head-butting match.

She was sure that it would only end in fists, so she asked, "Why don't we share the skeletons; there are plenty. We'll send ten to the Jeffersonian and ten to your ME?"

Gibbs and Booth looked at each other, "Deal." they said.

Booth pulled out his cell to arrange the specialized dig team to remove the bodies and send them to the appropriate locations. As the team left the yellow taped area behind them, Tony grabbed a leafy branch off the ground. He stealthily walked up behind Ziva, hoping to catch her unaware this one time, so he could tickle her neck. He extended his arm, only to see a blurred movement as all of a sudden the nerves in his hand screamed in agony. He quickly dropped the branch with a whimper, as he found himself up against her back.

"Got you, Tony." she whispered into his ear leaning back.

"Ouch, Ziva, please let go of my hand." he whispered back not so quietly, frustrated. He had been so quiet; he didn't even step on a branch. Her ninja sense must have given him away.

"Of course, Tony." she released him.

"Having a little fun with me, Zee-vah?" he smirked.

"Ha, you wish." she smiled, looking him up and down with her eyes teasingly. She turned her back on him and went to join the rest of the team walking back to the parking lot.


	6. Searching for Pieces

Dr. Mallard, Ducky, had decided to follow Abby, Garcia, and Officer Weston to their separate room. He had read lots about Dr. Brennan and her work in the field of forensic anthropology and knew he was not needed at the crime scene. As soon as they entered the room, Abby gasped, and ran over to a white machine to run her hands over it.

"Ducky, look at all this wonderful equipment!" she exclaimed. "Poor Major Mass Spec would be jealous; they even have an infrared spectrophotometer!"

"Of course they have the best equipment Abigail," Ducky told her. "The police really would like to catch this serial killer."

"I definitely have to agree, they have great computers too," Garcia added, her fingers flying over the keyboard checking them out; she had hooked up her laptop to the computers provided and already unpacked some colorful little decorations from her purse to put around the computers.

"Well, I'll leave you two young ladies to converse. I, myself have received a message from Anthony, the bodies are here and I must go, my duties call." Ducky said as he left.

Abby turned to regard Garcia. She nodded approvingly at Garcia's colorful outfit and hair. She also loved Garcia's decorating style. Garcia in turn regarded her, the platform-clad, Goth chick. She could already tell working in the same room with Abby would be a blast.

"So, I'm Abby, which you already know, but it's only polite to introduce yourself. I'm the forensic scientist from NCIS; I get to deal with all the totally cool stuff in solving crimes. Oh and do you mind if I put some music on?" she asked all in one breath, smiling widely while pulling out a portable CD player from her bag.

"Sure," Garcia replied, "I love all types of music."

Abby turned on her favorite type of music, and inquired, "Do you know if they have a Caf-Pow machine here? Because, I'm running low on my stash." She pointed at several huge Caf-Pow bottles next to her bags.

"Caf-Pow?" Garcia questioned, puzzled.

"Yeah, Caf-Pow, as in a delicious drink filled to the brim with caffeine, way more caffeine than what coffee contains. It's what keeps me going, it's my batteries, I take it then that you don't know if they have a machine here. I'll just have to go look for one myself."

"I don't think so Abby, Gibbs would be pretty upset if you didn't go through this evidence." McGee said as he entered the room, carrying a rusty, old shovel wrapped in evidence bags.

"What 'cha got McGee?" Abby asked curiously. "A shovel for me? Hey that rhymes." she laughed.

"Yeah, we need you to analyze it. Tony found it at the crime scene. Since Gibbs put him in charge of finding evidence, he ordered a ground scan to search for more bodies and this turned up."

"Sure thing, if there's anything useful to be found on this shovel, you can bet I will find it." Abby promised. "What about the rest of the evidence from the cold cases, I mean you know how much I hate cold cases because their cataloged evidence is always such a mess but in this case it's probably better with more evidence…" Abby's voice trailed off at the look on McGee's face. "What McGee?"

"There is nothing else, Abs. There were no fibers, DNA, nothing at all. This person was extremely careful. We only have autopsy reports."

"Oh." Abby let the subject drop, "Have you meet Garcia yet? She's a computer whiz, probably better than you."

"Ouch." said a wounded McGee, "I'll have you know I have massive skills with computers."

"I'm just playing, McGee." she smiled, turning to face Garcia on the other side of the room, "Hey Garcia, this is McGee, he claims to have massive computer skills, well, actually he does really have some skills especially now that he spent some time with the Cyber Crimes Unit."

"Hi." Garcia told McGee.

Just then Garcia's cell rang, "It's Morgan." she said checking the caller ID. "The oracle of knowledge is at your service. How may I help you today?" she answered putting it on speaker. "By the way my lovely chocolate prince you're on speaker, so keep the rating down."

"I just wanted to let you know, sweet cheeks, that the math genius guy, Charlie says he needs more victim info to determine how the unsub is picking his victims. Can you email him detailed info, all the dirt you can dig up?"

"No problem, hot stuff." she hung up.

McGee and Abby turned to look at each other slightly puzzled, and Abby contemplated in a hushed tone, "She has an absolutely amazing way of talking to her team, I think I would like to try it out, maybe she could teach me?"

McGee shook his head, smiling and went to rejoin the team when Abby called out, "Don't forget to look for a Caf-Pow machine. If I don't get one soon, I may have to kill you and leave no forensic evidence."

Suddenly McGee whirled around and gave her a hug. "Thanks Abs, that's a great idea, the killer might have a forensic background that would explain the lack of forensics." he exclaimed and left.

* * *

Ziva and Tony returned to the main room, while the others left to their own designations. As they entered the room, Tony's eyes were immediately attracted to the three attractive ladies by the profilers' table.

Ziva without delay noticed where Tony's gaze was drawn to, "Tony, forget it, the blonde is married. Though if you want to _try_ to flirt with the others, I will laugh at your rejections." she smirked at him.

Tony just crossed his arms and said, "Just wait and see."

Ziva continued to stare at them, a puzzled expression creeping across her face, "The dark-haired woman, Prentiss, she seems familiar somehow. I must know her from somewhere."

"Well, why don't you ask her, otherwise it will keep bothering you." he told her striding across the floor to the group. "Hi, I'm Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, but please call me Tony." he smiled at the three ladies, Ziva standing at his side with a slight grin on her face.

"I'm Megan, that's JJ and Emily." Megan informed him.

All three of laughed internally, as profilers they could easily detect his ambitions behind his oozing charm.

"Excuse me for a moment. I need to call my boyfriend." Megan stated plainly stepping off to the side to call Larry leaving Emily and JJ to fend for themselves.

"Do I know you?" Emily asked the still staring Ziva.

"Actually Ziva was just wondering the same thing." Tony interjected with another charm smile.

"Tony, quit schmoozing, go help one of them over there." Ziva shoved him not so gently in the direction towards Colby and David.

"You would get that idiom right." he muttered under his breath as he left.

"So," Ziva mused, "Where could we have meet?"

"Your accent, you're Israeli? Because my mother is an ambassador, I was practically raised in the Middle East in embassies." Emily inquired.

"I remember! I was eight at the American embassy in Tel Aviv, my father was working on some project and I was left there for safety. You were the only person who talked to me." Ziva exclaimed.

"Oh, that's right! I thought you looked rather lonely, so I decided you'd make a good friend, plus you were the only other person my age there. Wow, that was so long ago, your English has gotten a lot better. Back then we ended up speaking in Arabic most of the time." Emily smiled at the recollections.

While they continued chatting about old memories, Booth entered the room, looked around indecisively and chose to join the guys by the phones. Don also walked over to them.

"What do we have guys?" he asked.

"We have been receiving phone call tips from overly eager citizens but so far none of them have panned out." David told Don.

"Stick to it, we may still get something."

"Okay." Colby said.

Don left as Gibbs entered the room and went to stand next behind Tony, as Tony was telling the other guys, "Gibbs can be brusque, he's more of the silent guy type, which actually leads to some interesting situations – he's standing right behind me isn't he?"

"Don't let me stop your story telling Tony, go on."

"I'll pass, Boss." he said, embarrassed to be caught gossiping red-handed.

Gibbs seized up the other men standing by Tony while the others also looked over the new arrival to their cluster.

"You a Marine?" Booth asked trying to break the awkward silence that had descended on their conversation observing the way Gibbs stood there and recalling how he had handled his team earlier.

Gibbs nodded slightly, "You?"

"I was in the Army, a sniper for the Rangers. How about you, Granger?" Booth inquired, noticing once again another military bearing in the room.

"Army CID." A mutual feeling of respect was shared among them broken only by the announcement that profilers were ready to announce their profile.


	7. Gathering Pieces

After Brennan returned with the bodies, she had them placed in the morgue, on loan from the local police. She was setting up her equipment and a communications link with the Jeffersonian when an older man walked in.

"Who are you?" Brennan asked brusquely, determined to get on with her job without any interference.

"Oh, my dear, I'm Dr. Mallard, but please call me Ducky. I'm with NCIS, I'm their ME." Ducky smiled and held out his hand.

Brennan shook his hand commenting, "So you are the one whom Agent Gibbs wanted to examine the bodies. He really has caused some problems. I usually prefer to send everything back to the Jeffersonian where I and my colleagues work."

"I did tell him that you are perfectly capable. I have read your books and papers on anthropology and must day I am duly impressed."

Brennan nodded and gestured at the body bags, "Will you begin to lay out the skeletons, uh, Ducky?" Her hesitation over Ducky's name was brief, "I am going to try to establish a video feed with my colleagues."

"Of course Dr. Brennan." Ducky entered a side room to pull on a lab coat and gloves before unzipping the black body bags. He laid out six of the skeletons, filling up all of the metal tables in autopsy.

Brennan walked over to aid him, snapping on blue gloves, "For some reason, the internet is not working properly here so I will wait to contact them."

Ducky took a breath about to launch into a tale of his childhood in Scotland when Brennan inquired, "What are the details about this victim?"

"A little test, my dear?" he smiled, "This is a male, about 40-50 years old, 6'1" I would say." Ducky peered closer at his hip using a magnifying glass. "Judging by the state of his os coxae, and vertebrae I would say he's in the early stages of osteoporosis."

"Correct." Brennan said impressed, he was obviously a very competent medical examiner. "I'll take these three, you examine the others. Note all characteristics, including the marks on the ribs; it seems to be the only clue we have to the murder weapon. I'll let my partner Booth know about the internet problems."

 

* * *

After receiving a phone call from Brennan and consulting with the officers at the station Booth was told to set up the communications link in the forensic lab. He entered the room amongst loud music and a dancing Goth girl.

"Umm…Excuse me!" Booth shouted to be heard over the music, "Could you turn that down?"

"Oh, sorry." Abby halted mid-dance movement and looked guilty at Booth. She reached over and turned the music down to a more manageable volume. "Sorry again, I thought I had the room to myself because Garcia, the tech from the FBI left for a moment, and I didn't think it would, you know, get in the way and-"

"Look," Booth interrupted Abby, "I just need you to set up a com link with Bones', I mean, Dr. Brennan's, squint squad. They deal with forensic stuff too so you can all work with each other."

"Sure, will do." she said as he left the room. She began typing as a picture appeared on her computer screen. A dark-haired woman with her hair in a bun stood there, writing something on a clipboard. She had her back to the computer.

Cam had been jotting down a few notes when all of a sudden, music started to pour out of her computer's speakers. She turned around surprised to see a woman with a dog collar and pig tails, smiling at her.

Cam immediately regained her composure and asked, "May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Abby, the forensic scientist for NCIS, some Agent Booth said I was supposed to hook up with you guys and talk forensics?" she informed Cam.

"Oh, I was expecting Dr. Brennan, I'm Dr. Saroyan, but call me Cam." she told Abby noticing that she probably wasn't one for formal names.

"Apparently Dr. B can't get internet in the morgue where she's working with Ducky, our ME. So where's the rest of your team?" she inquired curiously. Abby had thought that Booth had mentioned something about several people, squint squad, he had called them.

"I'll connect you to the main monitor on the platform." Cam hit a couple buttons on her keyboard and walked out of her office onto the platform, scanning her card along the way.

"Listen up people." she called to the others on the platform, Hodgins, Clark, and Angela, who had stopped to chat with Hodgins. She turned to face the monitor, introducing everyone to Abby. "Now, let's get to work."

"I really like your fashion sense, it's a lot more unique than the normal forensic scientist's bland clothes and lab coat." Angela commented, raising her eyebrows admiringly. "I will see you guys later, all these faceless skeletons; someone has to find their identity." She walked off to her office.

Clark and Hodgins shared looks, unsure of what to say next.

"I'm going to get back to work examining the skeletons. I'll email my initial findings and final report to Dr. Brennan." Clark said turning back to the skeleton he had been working on.

"Tony found this shovel at the scene, but since the wood is so decomposed, I wasn't able to lift any prints or DNA from sweat. It's just your basic shovel, a common one that you can find at any hardware store. Did you get the soil samples, Dr. Hodgins, because I didn't receive any and I normally do?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, that's my area of specialty along with bugs, beautiful creatures, aren't they?" he paused for a moment in thought, "Anyway, what I noticed since all the bodies except one had undergone diagenesis, meaning that they had fully decomposed, I only found a few beetles from the family _Nitidulidae_ and _Piophila casei_ which take up residence at least six months after death. Most of the soil had begun to return to its normal composition. The most recent body still had hair so I was able to find some mites. The point is that I was able to determine an approximate date of death for all the bodies."

"Wow, that's amazing. You found all that out just through the surrounding soil." Abby exclaimed, stunned. She knew a little about forensic entomology but her area of expertise was firearms.

"Three of the victims were killed 15 years ago, then two more 14 years ago, then another two the following year, then another two. Then for the past 11 years, there is one victim for each year. The most recent victim died, 6 months ago. Also the little clothing that remained was useless in gathering information, most of them wore natural clothing, like cotton so it decomposed."

"I'll pass on the info. Those are weird dates of death though especially because they first murders all took place within four weeks. Bye." Abby cut the connection. 

* * *

McGee and Garcia had run into each in the hall and started chatting about their various computer exploits. It turned out they had previously meet online in some not so legal discussion groups.

"Meet someone interesting, McGee?" a voice came from behind him.

McGee froze and then spun around, "Uh…yeah, boss, a fellow computer enthusiast."

Gibbs stood there, a slight amused expression on his face, a Caf-Pow in hand. It seemed that he had been able to find a Caf-Pow machine. No one would dare to come to Abby empty handed. He brushed past McGee, without another word and entered the lab tech's room.

"What'cha got Abs?"

"Gibbs!" she hugged him, "I haven't seen you in like forever!"

"Abs." he said warningly.

Abby let go, grabbed the Caf-Pow and told him, "Your psychic abilities are off. I don't have anything off the shovel yet. I put some of the wood in the mass-spec because I found this." She triumphantly pushed a microscope to Gibbs.

Gibbs stood there patiently, looking at Abs.

"Fine." she gave in and brought the picture up onto the overhead monitor. "Do you see that mold, it's gorgeous and I have no idea what kind it is." The mass-spectrometer gave off a beep. "Forget the earlier comment about your timing Gibbs; you knew it was going to go off before it knew." Abby hurriedly brought up the results on her computer.

Gibbs asked, "Abs, what's wrong?" at Abby's crestfallen face.

"The mass-spec doesn't know what it is either, something about a too minute and degraded sample." Suddenly, her face changed to its normal cheery smile, "I know, I'll ask Dr. Hodgins. If he could figure out all the time of deaths that easily, this should be a piece of cake for him."

She told Gibbs about how Hodgins had discovered the date of deaths, handing him a folder with all of them listed, while connecting to the Jeffersonian.

"Abby, anything new?" Hodgins' face appeared on the screen.

"Yeah, I need your help in identifying this mold; the mass spectrometer couldn't figure it out." She showed him the microscopic picture of the mold.

"This is a wonderful specimen. It's currently in metaphase I of meisois. See the kinetochore microtubules? It won't tell you anything useful though; this mold is common to the area where the bodies and shovel were found."

"Okay, thanks." she disconnected. "So Gibbs, I'm sorry, but I really don't have anything for you."

"It's fine, Abs. I didn't expect the killer to leave any useable evidence. Good effort though." He turned and left as silently as he had come, heading back to the main room to add the dates of deaths to the profilers' profile.


	8. Description

Gibbs re-entered the main conference room and told the profilers the information concerning the dates of deaths of the victims to help with their profile. Looking around the room, it seemed to be filled with frenzied energy. Both Charlie and Reid were scribbling frantically on the chalkboard on the other side of the room. They were running back and forth between a laptop and the blackboard, their hair and clothing covered with chalk dust. They had just received new information about the rest of the victims from Booth. Angela from Brennan's team had given all the bodies names. The profilers stood in a group talking, their hands moving with the fully covered board behind them. Pictures of the victim and crime scene were carefully organized but crammed next to each other. The L.A. FBI team was grabbing phones and scribbling down notes, scarcely a second would pass before the phone began ringing again.

"Excuse me, Hotch." Reid tapped Hotchner on the shoulder, breaking his concentration from the file he had been searching through.

"Yes, Reid?" Hotch responded, curious as to what Reid had to say.

"I was just wondering if Charlie and I could tell everyone the similarities between the victims before you announce your profile, it may be helpful to you."

"Sure, go ahead." Hotch said kindly, inwardly smiling at the chalky Reid.

Charlie asked for attention loudly, speaking over everyone else and halting the conversations. He had plenty of experience in capturing a room's concentration thanks to his other profession of university professor.

"Reid and I have created a expression stemming from several algorithms that allowed us to isolate commonalities between the victim." Charlie began.

"We then created a program for the super computer to run. Super computers can process a thousand trillion floating point operations per second, whereas by hand the process would take years. The program also identifies the unimportant links and disregards them." Reid continued.

There were a couple confused glances shared among the room when Reid delved a little too far into the world of computers. The BAU team gave each other quick looks of amusement at Reid's typical behavior.

Charlie realized that people were a little puzzled so he immediately delved into one of his analogy explanations. He walked over to where Megan was sitting and grabbed a bowl of an assortment of candy from her lap. Megan shot a death glare in his direction; she was highly tempted to slap his hand away. She was tired of Charlie always stealing her food for demonstrations. The worst was when he had poured water all over her freshly popped popcorn.

"Okay, see this bowl of candy," he lifted it up higher, "there are many different kinds of sweets in here just like in the human population there are many unique people. The candies represent humans. What this program does, it looks for the similarities. It will find that these types of candy have the same nuts, the same shape or that they have the same color wrapping." Charlie ate the couple sweets he had unwrapped and handed the rest of the untouched bowl back to a relieved Megan.

"So we recently received our results from the computer," Reid picked up a printout off a desk. "we already knew this killer targets people who have committed serious crime and gotten away with it. The results did show a specific courthouse linked to all the victims but 122,998 cases come through there in a year. We already have Garcia working on finding the cases dealing with our victims."

"The computer told us that several of the victims used the same laundry detergent, but that falls under the irrelevant category because they did not buy it at the same store." Charlie elaborated on the results.

"We did find one other commonality. All the victims took habitual walks in the evenings or early mornings, whether they were heading to a specific store or just getting exercise. The earlier victims all walked through the park next to the river where their bodies were found and the later ones, through the woods where the bodies were buried." Reid finished.

"Great, thanks Charlie." Don smiled affectionately at his curly haired brother. "That means we know where he killed his victims. Are you going to give your profile?" he asked looking at the profiler team.

Hotch nodded and stepped forward flanked by the rest of the BAU group and Megan.

"This unsub, unknown subject, is what we classify a mission-based vigilante killer. The unsub has to kill because he believes what he is doing is necessary and important." Hotch started announcing the team's profile.

"He or someone close to him has been the victim of violent crime. He may work in or around the criminal justice system; he's overworked and undervalued and is used to not being noticed." Reid explained.

Morgan added "He's an organized killer. He brings his own murder weapon to the scene so he plans in advance. Also since there are no forensic clues, he's very careful and is following an established routine."

"This routine is his signature. It's part ritual and part M.O." Megan stated.

"The lack of forensics also strongly supports the fact the unsub works in the criminal justice system. He could even be a cop." Rossi added.

Some quiet murmurs filled the room. No one likes to believe that one of their own could become a killer.

Rossi continued cutting off the murmuring, "It's a possibility that we need to keep in mind."

"We believe because of the lack contact with the media, the unsub is growing into his role – it's about his work, not about getting credit for it." Megan said.

"The unsub could either be a Caucasian male or female in their mid 30s to 40s." Emily told the group.

"Twelve percent of known serial killers are females so the unsub is more likely to be male." Reid piped up, throwing out one of his famous statistics.

"Just remember, our profile is only a guideline for narrowing down suspects. It can be inaccurate." Hotch informed the group. "Any questions?"

Everyone remained silent, flipping their notepads shut. Hotch dismissed the gathering and turned to his team and Megan.

"I didn't release any information to the public. I figured we should wait till we have narrowed down our suspect pool." JJ told him, pushing her blond hair out of her face.

"Good call." he responded. "It's been a long day everyone, take a break and get some rest. I don't want to see you before tomorrow morning." he ordered.

"Bye Megan!" JJ hugged her, "I'll see you tomorrow. I promise we will chat and catch up on each others' lives."

"I'll hold you to that." Megan smiled and put down the pen she had been chewing on.

* * *

Later that evening, Garcia, JJ, Reid, Morgan and Emily met in the hotel's bar to relax. They only planned on drinking lightly, no one wanted a hangover. They sat at a corner table, laughing together, and having a fun time.

"It's a good thing we decided to stay in tonight." Morgan commented.

"Why's that?" Reid asked puzzled.

"You seriously don't know?" Emily teased playfully, "Come on connect the dots, Reid plus L.A. equals…?

At Reid's continuing blank look, JJ asked Garcia, "You or I?"

"I'll do it." Garcia responded giggling, "Reid, we all know that prostitutes have an uncanny ability to find and proposition you. We just want to save you the shame and embarrassment."

Reid blushed and everyone else burst into laughter again, "Oh man, Reid, that look on your face just now, absolutely priceless." Morgan said smiling.

Suddenly Morgan stood up, "Let's play some pool Reid." he exclaimed.

"Sure." Reid agreed amicably. "Did you know that the game billiards is completely physics based? Whether the ball sinks into the pocket is completely dependent on angles, force, and vectors. Playing billiards happens to be one of my strong suits."

Morgan's face looked a bit dismayed at this news but he eagerly awaited the battle with Reid.

The girls decided to move towards the middle of the bar, in case they wanted to dance.

"See any hot guys here?" Emily asked JJ and Garcia.

"Awhhh, that hunk of a man standing all lonesome by himself over there looks pretty adorable." Garcia purred waggling her eyebrows.

"Let's see if we can get him to join us." JJ said up for a game, "I'll get another drink. Act seductively girls."

JJ left, sashaying her way past the hottie to the bar tender. Sure enough, he fell for the bait and came back with JJ to the table. Both Garcia and Emily smiled widely during the introductions to Paul.

"So, Paul, what do you do?" Emily asked flipping her hair, flirtingly.

"Well, ladies, actually I'm an FBI agent." Paul responded proudly. He was very happy with the way the night had turned out so far.

JJ, Garcia, and Emily nearly burst out laughing, it couldn't be happening again. Another man trying the FBI macho card.

"Did you hear that girls? He's an FBI agent." JJ turned to the others, her eyes showing her inner laughter. Both Garcia and Emily looked slightly amused before deciding to continue playing this game.

"Does that mean you have a badge?" Garcia asked, appearing to be emotionally swayed by the thought of him being FBI agent.

"Yes, I do." he smiled charmingly.

"May we see it?" JJ inquired, batting her eyelashes captivatingly.

"Sorry, it's need to see only." Paul shrugged apologetically.

The girls glanced at each other and decided to end it now, Morgan and Reid were heading their way.

"Does it look like this?" Emily pulled out her badge from her purse.

"Or this?" JJ added.

"Or this?" Garcia said finally.

Paul stared at them in completely embarrassment when Morgan and Reid arrived.

"Is this man bothering any of you?" he asked them.

"No, no, I was just leaving." Paul muttered and fled the scene.

"I can't believe that happened to us again!" JJ exclaimed.

"Yeah, it seems we're not the only ones who attracted unwanted attention." Garcia commented with a quick glimpse at Reid.

"What was that about?" Reid questioned, ignoring Garcia's previous statement.

"And what do you mean again?" Morgan demanded protectively.

"Oh, just another guy hitting on us and pretending to be an FBI agent." Emily remarked calmly as they began to walk out of the bar.

"When did this happen?" Morgan continued questioning.

The girls sighed and began to explain the story of the first fake FBI agent, Brad.


	9. Digging Deep

Bright and early the next morning, everyone congregated in the conference room.

"Hey JJ!" Megan called out, waving her over.

"Megan," JJ smiled in response, "Hold on a moment. Let me dump these files off at our table first before they end up on the floor."

JJ shook feeling back into her numb arms and turned to face Megan as they began chatting, catching up on each other's lives.

"So that's about it…I love LA and feel at home here among the team. Plus I have my wonderful boyfriend Larry," Megan summarized.

"I've gotten engaged and have a son," JJ began as they waited for everyone to finish getting ready.

The local FBI team asked for the room's attention and then gave a quick summary of all the case information.

Don started, "This is what we know so far: At first it was two bodies, then three, three, four, four bodies per week."

"According to the BAU this shows the killer was devolving," Granger added.

"But for some reason, after that the body count went down to two bodies per year for the next three years and then one body each year for the past ten years. The most recent one being sixth months old," Sinclair mentioned.

"The profilers are going to be working in conjunction with my team looking for possible reasons for this occurrence in the victim's files. Ms. Montenegro has managed to identify all the victims through dental records and facial reconstruction. Ms. Garcia will be aiding them in finding information. That's all," Don finished, allowing everyone to start working.

* * *

 

Booth entered the windowless interrogation room, shutting the door behind him. He pulled out the unoccupied chair and sat with his back to the one way mirror. McGee and Tony stood behind the glass, observing.

"Please state your name and age for the record," he told the teenage girl sitting across from him.

"Alynne Hutton, age seventeen," she replied short and to the point, her fingers drumming lightly against the gleaming steel table.

Meanwhile on the other side of the glass, Tony and McGee were having a quiet conversation.

"Why did Gibbs make us come watch this? Agent Booth is only getting her witness statement," McGee inquired, puzzled.

"Come on, McGoo, think about it. Gibbs equals suspicious and mistrusting. He just wants us to make sure Booth here doesn't screw up," Tony said patronizingly.

"Please describe what you saw this past Tuesday morning," Booth opened a note pad and prepared to write.

"I was out jogging with Freya, my dog," she explained, "when she suddenly barked and pulled me into the woods. She's a smart dog so I followed her. Freya started digging up the muddy ground about half a mile into the forest. She found a human bone. I didn't touch anything and called the police. My uncle's a cop so I wasn't about to go contaminating the crime scene."

Booth nodded, everything matched up with what she had told the first responders.

"Ms. Hutton, could you please explain how you knew it was a human bone?"

"Bio class."

"Alright, sign here at the bottom of your statement and an officer will escort you out."

* * *

 

Meanwhile, FBI agents were pouring over files scouring them for every last detail. Garcia was constantly emailing attachments as she found further information in the recesses of the internet.

"Something had to have been the stressor. This unsub wouldn't start killing without a reason," muttered Morgan.

"Wait, we have discovered something," Reid told the group from the more white than black blackboard where he was working with Charlie.

"We utilized two sets of information and matrices to look for commonalities. Our first data set contained a chronological list of the murders since we were looking for devolution," Charlie said, gesturing eagerly.

"The second set consisted of the crimes each victim was accused of committing,"

"Basically, our final conclusion indicates that the victim's crimes started out more serious, meaning that our killer became less picky in choosing his victims."

"See?" Reid pulled out a manila folder and flipped it open. "The earliest one was accused of statutory rape and attempted murder whereas the most recent victim dodged his charge of possession of child pornography."

"There's the devolution we were looking for," Hotch nodded, "Suggestions as to what might have been the stressor?"

Emily pushed back her black hair, "Well, it may have something to do with the first victim. I mean, why did she choose him first?"

"Good point," Megan added, "What do we know about the first victim?"

Morgan called Garcia and asked her to dig up anything she could find about the first victim and then call him back. Don's cell rang and he stepped aside to answer it. When he returned to the group, his face was grim.

"Sorry, my team needs to leave with me. We just got an emergency call from the mayor…there's been a bomb threat. The Director wants our team to handle it. We won't be able to help you on this case anymore."

Granger, Sinclair, and Reeves stood up from the table, and went to join Don, their faces equally somber.

"The tip lines will still run, just have one of your agents man it. They've all been bogus so far anyways," Colby said, combing his fingers through his hair.

Don checked his watch anxiously, and told Charlie, "C'mon. You gotta come too. We're gonna need your help on this one."

The LA FBI left the room, talking about raising threat levels.

Rossi refocused the group by mentioning, "If all the crimes that the male and female victims are accused of, no matter the level, are sex crimes against women and children, are we possibly dealing with a female unsub here?"

"Typically, if the unsub sees himself as a protector of the weak, the children and women, the unsub may be female. She may associate herself with them and the harm that has come to them," Emily commented.

Reid agreed, looking at his notes. "That fits with the profile. We know the unsub has some kind of a personal connection to a violent crime, and concluding from the files: a sex crime."

Garcia called back and Morgan put the phone on speaker, "Hey baby girl, what do you have for us?"

"I managed to scourge up some juicy info. The first victim, Rick Wern, had by no means a spotless record. It goes back about twenty years full of assault and battery, rape, stalking, and sexual harassment charges." She took a deep breath and continued, "I'll send you a complete copy of his file including the sealed juvenile files. This guy was one sick and twisted person," she said, disgusted. "I sent you an attachment with the names of all his victims. I feel so sorry for them."

"Run his prints and DNA too, make sure that he doesn't relate to any unsolved cases," Hotch ordered.

"Okay, I'll let Abby know." In the background they could hear Garcia shout over to Abby, "Hey, goddess of the night, use your magic. Run this…" The rest trailed into mumbles.

A little while later Abby called back with the results, "So I ran his prints and DNA and had several hits, it's so sad though, all those girls who never got to see justice, I mean," she took a breath and Rossi interrupted.

"Where is this leading?"

"Oh right, well, he got one of these girls pregnant. They never found him though so her case stayed unsolved."

"Hey guys," JJ broke in, shouting excitedly, from by the tip lines, "I think I got a lead!"

* * *

She stumbled as she shuffled crossed the kitchen for some honey. She partly missed the teacup with her honey squirt, her coordination worsening. Her hands trembled as she drank her cup of tea, sitting on a stool by the counter. She hoped that she had made the correct decision. It was time for the truth to be revealed in plain sight. She could always wish that it would remain undetected but it did not matter anymore. Nothing really did.


	10. Fact or Fiction

Everyone rushed over to the phones where JJ currently stood talking calmly to the person at the other end.

"I'm going to place you on speaker phone so that I can write down some details. You say your name is Lauren Monte?"

"Yes, I'm a publisher with Simon Publishing Company. I received a manuscript from a prospective client. The entire book was genius, I ran it by the higher ups and we approved publishing."

"Alright?" JJ inquired, patiently.

"The transcript…it details these crimes that have been in the news. I thought it was just a coincidence so I reread some parts, but the location of the mass grave…it was the same! It has to be more than a coincidence, right?" the woman fretted.

* * *

The clunking of platform shoes danced across the linoleum floor of the temporary lab. Abby hummed along as she twirled, her black pigtails wrapping themselves around her head. She plopped herself on a rolling chair and scooted over to Garcia.

"You really have to show me how to get bubble gum pink highlights! Every time I try something like myself, I nearly burn off my all my scalp. And most chemicals make sense to me," she complained lightly, shaking her head in disgrace.

"What'cha working on?" Abby asked curious. Garcia's fingers could really fly over her keyboard.

"I'm checking out this manuscript lead. Trying to determine if it's legit or whether someone just ripped it off the magical world of the web," Garcia replied, her eyes glued to the screen in front of her.

A black response page popped up, "No success…that's good though for our lead!" Abby commented.

"I'm getting a copy of the manuscript sent to me for further double checking. Maybe there are more clues as to the identity of the killer hidden within the text. Though with Reid…" Penelope trailed off.

"Dr. Reid?"

"He reads at an incredibly unnatural rate. He'll be able to tell us everything useful that the manuscript reveals within ten minutes, give or take."

Abby's sole response was a bug-eyed stare.

* * *

"Wait here," an attendant commanded Booth and Brennan after they had asked to meet with the publisher.

Booth turned to gaze at the bronze plaques plastered across the wall. They featured photos with prominent authors holding a copy of their first best seller. Simon seemed to be doing well within the publishing world since Booth recognized nearly all shown.

"Are you on your publisher's wall like a trophy?" Booth asked, slightly appalled.

"Of course Booth, it's a symbiotic relationship."

Lauren Monte strode over to the pair briskly, her no-nonsense attitude radiating from her outfit and severe bun.

"Lauren Monte, Simon Publishing," she announced, stretching out her hand to briefly shake both Dr. Brennan's and Booth's hands. "Please follow me to my office."

Behind closed doors she continued, "This is absolutely awful; let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Actually, Ms. Monte, we need to have the manuscript," Booth told her. Lauren did not take the news well.

Her eyebrows stretched higher, as she retorted, "Impossible. The client has a right to keep their manuscripts under wrap. We don't want the details leaking out and risk plagiarizers."

Booth moved his hands to his hips, pushing his suit jacket to reveal his gun and assert authority, "This is a criminal matter: we have a warrant."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so earlier?" she glanced over the folded sheets of paper and turned to a filing cabinet to her right.

She withdrew a manila folder brimming with paper and handed it to Booth, commenting to Brennan, "You look really familiar."

"I believe we may have met at some social event for writers and publishers. My publisher assures me they are important for publicity."

"Right!" Lauren smiled contortedly, her recent Botox injections twisting her face, "You're Temperance Brennan! Any chance you'd consider switching publishers?"

She took a deep breath ready to launch into an advertising spiel, when Brennan coldly replied, "No," and left her office with Booth.

* * *

Back at the conference room, the agents were examining the details of the manuscript while Reid was paging through it at an alarmingly fast rate. Gibbs located the return address on the torn envelope in which the manuscript had been sent. He motioned to his team.

"We'll check out the address." Gibbs announced.

Hotch agreed, "We'll continuing working up a profile of the unsub. Having this manuscript will strengthen it."

He turned to the group, "Any thoughts yet Reid?"

"Yes, this was definitely written by the unsub, everything fits with what we've figured out together. And from the style of writing, I can tell you our unsub is female. Also, it's written in diary style, the entries are progressively getting older. Based on the changing styles, I would estimate the unsub to be in her mid-thirties."

Prentiss nodded, "That fits with our estimate."

"Is the entire manuscript written from her point of view?" Rossi inquired, tilting his head.

"Yes, it's absolutely fascinating getting into an unsub's head like this. Like Danny Rolling's book _The Making of a Serial Killer_ , John Wayne Gacy's _A Question of Doubt_ ,and Ian Brady's _The Gates of Janus._ There are several more," Reid rattled off the top of his head.

Garcia came by with a stack of manuscript copies for the team, "Here you go my darlings," before heading back to the lab.

The team flipped between the pages, noting the important excerpts Reid had pointed out.

"Wow, this is an exact plan of her older killings." JJ remarked.

Hotch raised his head, "Exactly, the newest murder is missing. We have now an explanation for the odd gaps between killings; it's a reward for publishing something new. She feels that doing so proves her success over regaining the control her rapist took from her. "

Rossi commented, "And that she has a teenage daughter whom she left to protect. This also tells us that she took forensic classes online at a community college thus explaining the lack of evidence and works as a stenographer which accounts for the courthouse link. I agree this sounds like our unsub. The manuscript seems authentic."

Emily shook her head dejectedly at the page she was reading, "What an awful life. Here's the stressor: After being impregnated due to her rape at seventeen, the bastard shows his face again after the three year statue of limitations. He sued for custody!" she said, her voice coldly enraged, "So she murders him at age twenty-one and starts her chain of victims."

JJ patted Emily comfortingly on her tense shoulder.

* * *

Gibbs and his team approached the house silently, without alarms. Their blue jackets stated NCIS across the back and their flak jackets were hidden underneath. They undid the clasp on their holsters and withdrew their sidearms in one sweeping gesture. Gibbs flattened himself against the house, peering through the slit in the curtains over the front window. He saw the empty living room before him. He motioned Tony and McGee to the front, beckoning Ziva to follow him around back.

As he and Ziva snuck around the back, the sound of music through a kitchen window increased. Following hand signals, they positioned themselves by the door. She picked the door quickly, easily gaining access to the house.

Tony and McGee entered silently as well and went about clearing the upstairs floors. No one wanted a surprise to present itself.

Covering each other Ziva and Gibbs cleared the kitchen and moved onto the nearly empty dining room. A woman sat, legs crossed meditative style, facing the wall. She had a huge pair of black headphones on, seemingly oblivious to the classical music pouring from the kitchen. A long, black braid lay down her back.

They steadied their weapons, aiming solidly at her back, calling out "Freeze, NCIS! Slowly hold up your hands."

The woman remained unmoving and unresponsive, even after several repeats of the command. Ziva glanced at Gibbs; it was an odd situation they found themselves in. He nodded, giving her permission to touch their suspect. Ziva laid a hand on her shoulder, prepared to tap her, when the woman spun around to counter with a defensive martial arts move.

Ziva instantly engaged with a reflexive offensive move to restrain the suspect, landing her on the ground with her arms cuffed. She gazed at the woman's face. She was young, Ziva noticed surprised while pulling off her headphones.

Tony caught a glimpse of the fast action and shook his head, "You really are a ninja!" he joked.

McGee entered behind him, elbowing Tony in the side, "It's her!" he declared astonished.

Tony studied the defiant face before him, nodding, as the girl opened her mouth, shocked to see the badges in front of her.


	11. Final Piece

Alynne stood before them, flabbergasted. Due to her noise canceling headphones, she had assumed the touch on her shoulder was an assault. Someone had broken into their home again and she was ready to defend herself this time around.

She stuttered out, anxiously, "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize you were law enforcement," she desperately tried to explain herself.

"You were the girl who found the mass grave, right?" McGee asked her. He and Tony had observed her questioning.

She nodded quickly, and proceeded to clarify why she attacked Ziva. Curious, Tony tried on the headphones. _Wow,_ he thought, _I really can't hear anything_. Tony started to talk loudly with them on, unable to hear his own voice until Gibbs delivered a slap to the back of his head.

Tony whipped off the headphones and straightened up, "No more fooling around, Boss."

McGee snorted, "I'll believe that when I see it."

Tony shot him a glare, but decided to ignore him. Gibbs escorted the girl back to their car.

Alynne spoke up to Ziva walking beside her, "Nice fighting style, looked like some Krav Maga."

Ziva ducked her head in acknowledgment.

"She's Mossad, you know. Been training since she was born," Tony informed her.

Alynne's eyes widened in awe. She would have never stood a chance.

* * *

Alynne slouched in the cold, metal chair. The interrogation room around her oozed unfriendliness and was designed to make the suspect feel as uncomfortable as possible. Three men stood behind the two-way mirror, staring at the sole occupant of the room before them. Gibbs and Hotch left Booth to observe, and entered the room. Enough time had passed allowing her to stew. Alynne's anxiousness revealed by her jittering leg tucked under the table.

Hotch reclined against the wall, his hawk eyes watching carefully. Gibbs dumped a copy of the manuscript with a heavy thump on the table and Alynne jumped slightly at the noise.

"Explain," he barked out.

Alynne knew that she should not be talking without some form of legal counsel at her side, but her instinct to help overruled what her uncle had taught her.

She reached to pull the file towards her, "It's the manuscript I submitted."

"You submitted?" Hotch spoke up, asking her to clarify. A young girl like her could not be the unsub. The timeline did not fit.

"Yeah, I didn't write it though, my mom did."

That made much more sense to Hotch; he nodded to Booth behind the glass as an indicator to tell everyone else.

"Go on," Gibbs stated, softening a bit.

"On my sixteenth birthday I received a letter and a diary from my uncle. My aunt had be instructed to give me them on my sixteenth birthday, but she didn't live to do so. The letter told me not to open the diary, but to keep it safe. Another letter would arrive next year. Sure enough I found an unaddressed envelope from her in our mailbox, which told me to publish it."

"Sorry for your loss," Hotch sympathized.

"It was three years ago in a home invasion," she shrugged it off, "So I sent them to a publishing company, Simon something rather. I still have no idea what it's about."

"She's the famous LA serial killer," Gibbs broke to her, "We need her name."

Alynne stared at him, shocked and stunned. She would have never imagined her mother landed her in this mess.

"Joanna. Joanna Thompson," she managed to squeeze out from her numb lips.

"What about the newest letter?" Hotch inquired gently.

"I still have the letter. It's from seven months ago." She reached into her breast pocket on her jacket, "I keep it close to my heart. I don't know anything about my father and my mom–" she broke off, her voice trembling, "Why, can you tell me why?"

Hotch decided to provide her some answers, "Your mother was raped at seventeen and got pregnant. When the father and rapist sued for custody of the child, it pushed her over the edge."

With glazed eyes, she absorbed the information, "My father was a rapist?" she gasped to herself.

"I'm sorry," Hotch told her.

Gibbs informed Alynne, "You'll be released. We've called your uncle and he's on his way," and the two exited the room.

* * *

Booth shouted, "Got the address from Garcia!" waving a paper in the air.

Everyone rushed off into their respective SUVs, sirens wailing. It was time to stop this serial killer for once and for all.

Morgan and Emily carried the battering ram from their trunk, as the teams ran up the stairs to the apartment. Hand signaling, one, two, three, the door crashed open, as they lowered the battering ram and swept into the room, falling into staggered formation.

"Federal law enforcement, freeze!" Booth shouted to the lone figure in the room. She was sitting on a sofa, facing out of the window into the setting sun.

"It's over Joanna," Hotch announced to the unsub.

The woman got up slowly and unsteady turned to face the group, hands raised and shaking. She looked average, like most killers, her black hair cropped short. She smiled softly, an eerie atmosphere filling the room.

"You're right about that, I'm dying with Huntington's. The disease is far enough along that the world can know who outwitted the police. Without my manuscript I would have remained undetected," Joanna defiantly rasped out her final words before she collapsed on the floor.

Ziva raced to her side, feeling for her pulse, "It's weak and thready."

"I'm dead, dearie. Poison does that," she expelled into Ziva's ear. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she took her last breath.

The group shook their heads disgusted at the violence this woman had inflicted for so long. They left the room, exiting with their shadows cast long before them, triumphant in their success, yet dismayed at the truth in her words. How much of a difference do they make? She remained behind on the floor, still and frozen in the clutches of death.


End file.
